Awash In Watercolors A Couple Of Exhibits By South Florida Artists Highlight This Medium.

November 15, 1987|By ROGER HURLBURT, Art Writer

Travel has always been fine visual fodder for artists.

Watercolor specialist Barbara Dix, whose recent representational efforts based on a trip to the Mideast are on display at the Wheeler Art Gallery in the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, is no exception. She even throws in a couple of heady oils.

Dix, who is an instructor at the institute, has a flair for spontaneity. Her splashy watercolors capture more gesture than detail. Contours also surmount illusion to solid form. Such are the end results of works seemingly based more on memory and drawings than on on-the-spot observation.

She is a learned colorist, preferring to orchestrate a few colors well, than to touch upon every dab of pigment on the palette. Works like No Mad, a fine portrait of a woman, and Totally Mad, a flippant close-up of a camel, are essentially monochromatic.

The daubs and smooth washes of Dix`s touch are quite opaque. She makes effective use of vivid hues, especially when adding a jolting ribbon of pale blue on an eastern horizon or smacking the edge of palm trees with a vibrant red, as in the fine piece How Sweet to Watch the Long Bright River.

The artist moves fluidly from landscapes to figures to more massive objects: namely, airplanes. I Kept my Word may be an ambiguous title for a pastel- colored motif of twin propellers, but Dix`s technique is graceful and the images clear. Fuselages and props become bodies and limbs, all illuminated by diffused sunlight.

A pair of oils -- Red Sea Tuesday and Red Sea Thursday -- are abstracted seascapes that work better at a distance than up close. I wish they had been hung together at the far end of the gallery, rather than being mixed in with the more diminutive watercolors.

Charming is the word to describe two watercolors that should be purchased as a pair. Swathed figures in turbans make up both How Dull it Is to Pause and Make Ease More Easy.

Barbara Dix is a rapidly evolving artist with myriad skills and a wealth of vision.

But please; can`t someone at the institute use some Windex on the dingy, fingerprint-laden frames and glass?

-- It has been several years since I wrote about the watercolors of talented Alice Terry.

At that time, Terry was exhibiting delicate, rather minimal-looking watercolors of flowers and stems at Gallery Camino Real in Boca Raton. The impression then was of cool, clear light and pale greens that imbued Terry`s paintings with a Oriental lightness.

Through Nov. 30, gallery owner Marjorie Margolis has invited Terry back for an encore.

The artist still wields her watercolors with precision and delicacy, but motives have been amplified greatly. Flowers still fill vases, but once-barren backgrounds are now occupied with decorative details.

Color, color, color. Terry`s large sheets of paper are ablaze with rich reds, bright greens and deep blues. Oriental ginger jars with fanciful designs anchor the unfurling of stems and blossoms, while textile backdrops and even American flags are interspersed among the foliage.

No, Terry hasn`t been abroad. One suspects she has just haunted a number of flea markets, or the gift section of Bloomingdale`s. No matter. The blitz of colors and designs are ably handled, even if the romance of elements is lacking.

Especially fine is the picture High Rises, with its ample use of yellow (a tough color). My favorites hark back to the more simplified compositions of the past -- the Leaf Series 1-3.

No background exists in the aforementioned gems. One is reminded of the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi`s fascination with tinted glass bottles -- or, in reverse, the almost surreal still life ensembles by the 17th century Spanish master Francisco Zurbaran with their dark backgrounds.

Eclecticism is not the issue with Alice Terry, however. She sticks to the basics of flowers and containers as still life, and she does it well.

Filling a space in a beautiful way is simply a habit for this venerable artist.

-- ``Feminism and High Art: A Contradiction in Terms?`` is the title of a video art installation on view at the Ritter Art Gallery of Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. The display continues through Dec. 11.

The featured artists in the university`s third annual exhibit of feminist art are Valle Export, Lynn Blumenthal, Linda Benglia, Lisa Steele and Joan Jonas.

David Courtney, curator of the show and director of the gallery, commented: ``Feminist art . . . is new art and new formulas of art generally make the viewing public uncomfortable. . . . Feminism pushes people to confront issues. Although these videos are entertaining, they will stay with the viewer long after the exhibition.``

Lynn Appleton, director of FAU`s Women`s Studies Center, has another point of view. She says, ``Feminist video art is full of insight, anger and humor. . . ``

Judge for yourself.

For gallery hours and information, call the Ritter Art Gallery at 393-2660.